Screen



Nov. 23, 1943. c. DREYF'US 2,334,754

scREEn Filed Feb. 10, 1940 ISTED AND SET ST RIPS OF CELLULOSE ESTERFOIL.

INVENTQR. AM\ LLE DREYFUS ATTORN EYS.

Patented Nov. 23, 19.43

4 Claims.

This invention relates to insect screens, and relates more particularlyto insect screens made of artificial organic materials.

Insect screens have heretofore been made of wire cloth, i. e., a fabricof woven metallic wire, normally stretched in and affixed to a frame andhung in windows of homes, automobiles, trailers or wherever it isdesired to prevent the entrance of insects such as, for example, fliesand mosquitoes. Such screens are often' wound on rollers and operate inthe same manner as a window shade except that the side edges of thescreen are contained in and slide within slots formed of spaced wood ormetal strips. The wire cloth suffers from the serious disadvantage thatit rusts or-weathers in use, thus marring the appearance not only of thescreen itself but also of the structure upon which it had been hung.Wire cloth screens require frequent painting to give them a neatappearance.

It is an important object of my invention to provide an insect screenwhich will be free from the above mentioned and other disadvantages andwhich will be efflcient in operation and inexpensive in cost.

Another object of my invention is the provision of a novel insect screenmade of heavy denier filaments of artificial organic materials,

which filaments are strong, flexible and substantially resistant toweathering.

A further object of my invention is to provide an insect screen made ofartificial filaments of organic material which filaments are transparentto translucent whereby at least .some light will pass therethrough.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will appear from thefollowing detailed description.

The figure of the accompanying drawing shows diagrammatically insectscreening of the present invention.

In accordance with my invention, I make insect screens from open texturefabrics which are formed by weaving or netting relatively stifiartificial filaments of heavy denier. The openings in said fabric may beformed in any shape ting to the frame.

place of nails or staples for attaching the net- If desired, theperiphery of the sheet of netting to be applied to the frame may bereinforced by applying thereto strips of cloth or of any artificialmaterial which in turn may be affixed to the frame.

, To prepare the netting of the present invention 'monofilaments, orheavy denier filaments, are woven or netted by suitable textile devicesinto the open texture fabric desired. These monofilaments aretransparent to translucent,

relatively still, and preferably have a denier of from 500 to 1000.However, monofilaments of somewhat finer or heavier denier may beemployed in making the insect screens of my invention.

I The monofilaments may be produced in any convenient manner. Thus, theymay be made by extruding a single filament through a spinning orifice oflarge diameter or by extruding a number of filaments from a plurality ofspinning orifices of small diameter and, while the filaments are stillin a sticky condition, associating and physically uniting them into asingle filament of heavy denier, or monofilament. Another method ofpreparing the monofilaments is by passing a plurality of formedcontinuous artificial filaments, while in a condition to ad-' here toone another, through a die or series of dies of appropriate shape,whereby they are caused to adhere and coalesce together to form a butmust, of course, be small enough to prevent insects from passingtherethrough. The open texture fabric, which will hereinafter bereferred to as netting, is fixed by any suitable means in a frame of asize to fit the window or opening which is to be protected, in the samemanner as wire cloth screening is affixed to a frame. In the case of thenetting of my invention, however, a suitable adhesive may be employed insingle filament of large cross-section. The small denier filaments to beunited may be treated with a solvent or softener individually andsubsequently brought together, or they may be treated while associatedas a' twisted or untwisted thread or as a plurality of threads. Thetreat ment may be carried out on the filaments while they are-travellingat any convenient stage of their production. Mesh fabric suitable foruse as or in screens may also be made by weaving threads made of stripsof foil of suitable width and thickness which had been twisted to form acontinuous spiral thread. To keep these spiral threads in a setcondition the foil is preferably treated with a solvent or softeningagent prior to or during the twisting thereof. If desired, the netting,after weaving, may be passed through heated calender rolls arranged toapply a light pressure thereon, whereby the filaments or threads arecemented together at the points where the weft and warp cross.

The material employed for preparing the monofilament or thread fromwhich the insect screens are made preferably has a. basis of celluloseacetate. However, other filamentor foilforming substances may beemployed, among which mention may be made of other organic esters ofcellulose such as cellulose propionate and cellulose butyrate, ethers ofcellulose such as ethyl and benzyl cellulose, esters of cellulosecontaining inorganic radicals such as nitro-cellulose and nitro-acetate,thiocarbamic and alkoxy alacyl esters of cellulose, condensationproducts of methylene adipamide.

The materials employed in accordance with my invention may have aplasticizer or plasticizersincorporated therein, particularly where theinsect screen is to be mounted on a roller for mm'e. merit up and downrelative to the window frame. The addition of plasticizer to thematerials makes the same stronger and more flexible. Any suitableplasticizer may be used in such materials among which may be mentionedethyl toluene sulphonamide, dibutyl tartrate, dibenzyl tartrate, diethylphthalate, triphenyl phosphate and tricresyl phosphate.

If colored screens are desired for any purpose dyestuffs may beincorporated in the materials. The dyestuffs may be included in thefilamentor foil-forming composition before .the products dibutylphthalate, triacetin are formed or by applyingasuitabie dyestufl to thesurface thereof.

The insect screen made in accordance. with my invention retains itsoriginal appearance no matter how long it is in use. It may-be cleanedmerely by wiping the same with a rag or cloth wetted with water.

It is to be understood that the foregoing detailed description is givenmerely by way of illustration and that many variations may be madetherein without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having described my invention, what I desire 'to secure by LettersPatent-is:

1. Insect screen comprising an open texture fabric containing threadsmade of twisted and adhesively set strips of foil having a basis of anorganic ester of cellulose.

2. An insect screen comprising an open texture fabric containing threadsmade of twisted and adhesively set strips of foil having a basis ofcellulose acetate.

3. An insect screen comprising an open texture fabric containing a warpand a weft of threads made of twisted and adhesively set strips of foilhaving a basis of an organic ester of cellulose, the threads of saidwarp and weft being Joined together at intersecting points.

4. An insect screen comprising an open texture fabric containing a. warpand a weft of threads made of twisted and adhesively set strips of foilhaving a basis of cellulose acetate, the threads of said warp and weftbeing Joined together at intersecting points.

CAMILLE DREYFUS.

